
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, September 5, 1993                   TAG: 9309050026
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PAY-PER-VIEW TV RECORD PREDICTED FOR FRIDAY FIGHT

Two of the biggest little stars in boxing are expected to produce a record pay-per-view TV audience outside the heavyweight division Friday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

The scheduled 12-round bout between Pernell "Sweetpea" Whitaker and Julio Cesar Chavez - for Whitaker's World Boxing Council welterweight title - is being aired by Showtime Event Television (SET) and will be available in 25 million addressable cable homes nationally. Those include Cox Cable Roanoke and Salem Cable TV subscribers. Both systems are offering the card for the promoters' suggested $29.95, although Cox Cable Roanoke raises the rate to $34.95 for a fight-day order. Several other cable systems in the region also are selling the bout.

The three-fight card begins at 9 p.m., with Steve Albert handling the call and Ferdie Pacheco as the analyst. The card opens with WBC super featherweight champ Azumah Nelson meeting Jesse James Leija, followed by WBC super welterweight champ Terry Norris defending his title against Joe Gatti.

SET spokeswoman Marina Capurro said the Whitaker-Chavez bout is forecast to surpass the previous PPV sales record for a non-heavyweight fight, Chavez's 12-round decision over Hector "Macho" Camacho a year ago. That card had a 3.8 percent buy rate (percentage of PPV homes) and was seen in 800,000 homes, ranking sixth among all PPV boxing attractions.

Chavez's knockout of Greg Haugen in February is ranked No. 2 among non-heavyweight PPV attractions.

The Whitaker-Chavez bout should surpass 1 million homes.

The largest pay-per-view home audience for boxing was recorded in April 1991, for the Evander Holyfield-George Foreman heavyweight title fight. It was viewed in 1.45 million homes for an 8 percent buy rate. The PPV universe included 17 million homes then.

Ranked between Holyfield-Foreman and Chavez-Camacho among PPV boxing attractions, by homes, were the second Mike Tyson-Razor Ruddock bout (June 1991), Holyfield-Buster Douglas (October '90), Riddick Bowe-Holyfield (November '92) and Tyson-Ruddock I (March '91).

by CNB